I can't recall ever seeing an advertisement that prominently featured a Sister-in-Law... until two weeks ago when I came across two.
The first is a good-natured video spot brought to us by the always-hilarious Ryan Reynolds, promoting Mint Mobile's new Family Plan, where any two people can be "family".
(Note the use of the quotations there, which is the set-up for the entire gag. I should also warn you that in the spirit of this gag, I'll be using words in quotations throughout this post.)
This spot is "on brand" for both Ryan Reynolds and Mint Mobile, and the playful humour is appropriate for the target audience: "people who want to share their phone plans".
The second "sister-in-law" ad, which appeared as a Sponsored Post in my Facebook newsfeed, was inarguably much less wholesome.
True Classic is a T-shirt brand specifically designed to look flattering when worn by men with "larger frames". More specifically, men with big arms and big bellies who want to showcase the former while hiding the latter. (How did you know, Facebook? How did you know???)
True Classic, clearly trying to be an "irreverent and defiant" brand, decided to use an "interesting" customer testimonial to highlight just how flattering its T-shirts actually are:
Now, one could argue some of True Classic's primary target, who I'd guess is the 35-45-year-old male who wants to look as good as he did before his beer belly mysteriously appeared, might appreciate the "dirty humour" being showcased.
But it's an "unusual" joke, to be sure.
And one Justin Solo's spouse isn't likely to find very funny.